Getting the bingo hall back again? Gambling law reform, economic regeneration and the gendered limits of "casino capitalism"

Bedford, Kate
(2011)
Getting the bingo hall back again? Gambling law reform, economic regeneration and the gendered limits of "casino capitalism".
Social and Legal Studies, 20
(3).
pp. 369-388.
ISSN 0964-6639.
(The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
(Contact us about this Publication)

Abstract

This article explores the gendered nature of gambling promotion as a modality of economic regeneration in the aftermath of the Gambling Act 2005. Using an exploratory case study of a district council licensing board, I examine how the gambling forms that reflect women’s gambling cultures are faring under the current legal environment, focusing on the apparent contrast between casino promotion and bingo neglect. I ask what this reveals about the intertwining of legal reform, gender, and perceptions of worthwhile risk-taking in attempts to promote local development. In particular I probe the discrepancy between the state’s legal regime (more restrictive of casinos than bingo halls) and local actors’ regeneration ambitions (centred on casinos). In this way I examine what local legal actors ‘see’ as being legally and economically necessary or possible as they encounter a new legislative landscape around gambling.